Minotaur
In the Dungeons & Dragons role-playing game, minotaurs are a race of monstrous humanoids. Based upon the minotaur of Greek myth, they resemble bull-human hybrids. Many minotaurs worship the demon lord Baphomet. Publication history The minotaur was one of the earliest creatures introduced in the D&D game. ''Dungeons & Dragons'' (1974–1976) The minotaur was one of the first monsters introduced in the earliest edition of the game, in the ''Dungeons & Dragons'' "white box" set (1974), where they were described as a bull-headed man, and a man-eater.Gygax, Gary, and Dave Arneson. Dungeons & Dragons (3-Volume Set) (TSR, 1974) ''Advanced Dungeons & Dragons'' 1st edition (1977–1988) The minotaur appears in the first edition Monster Manual (1977), where it is described as a cruel man-eater, typically found in labyrinthe places in the wilderness and underground.Gygax, Gary. Monster Manual (TSR, 1977) The minotaur was one of the main player character races of the Dragonlance campaign setting. The Bloodsea minotaur appeared in the modules Dragons of Dreams (1985) and Dragons of Triumph (1986), and then appeared in the Dragonlance Adventures hardcover (1987). The Krynn minotaur also appeared as a player character race in Dragonlance Adventures. The minotaur was detailed in Dragon #116 (1986), in the "Ecology of the Minotaur".Gerard, Anthony. "The Ecology of the Minotaur." Dragon #116 (TSR, 1986) ''Dungeons & Dragons'' (1977–1999) This edition of the D&D game included its own version of the minotaur, in the Dungeons & Dragons Basic Set (1977, 1981, 1983).Gygax, Gary, and Dave Arneson 1974, edited by J. Eric Holmes. Dungeons & Dragons Basic Set (TSR, 1977)Gygax, Gary, and Dave Arneson 1974, edited by Tom Moldvay. Dungeons & Dragons Basic Set (TSR, 1981)Gygax, Gary, and Dave Arneson 1974, edited by Frank Mentzer. Dungeons & Dragons Set 1: Basic Rules (TSR, 1983) Minotaurs were also later featured in the Dungeons & Dragons Game set (1991), the Dungeons & Dragons Rules Cyclopedia (1991),Allston, Aaron, Steven E. Schend, Jon Pickens, and Dori Watry. Dungeons & Dragons Rules Cyclopedia (TSR, 1991) the Classic Dungeons & Dragons Game set (1994), and the Dungeons & Dragons Adventure Game set (1999).Slavicsek, Bill. Dungeons & Dragons Adventure Game (TSR, 1999) The monster ruler, Minoides, King of the Minotaurs, appeared in the Wrath of the Immortals boxed set (1992).Allston, Aaron. Wrath of the Immortals (TSR, 1992) ''Advanced Dungeons & Dragons'' 2nd edition (1989–1999) The minotaur appears first in the Monstrous Compendium Volume One (1989),Cook, David, et al. Monstrous Compendium Volume One (TSR, 1989) and is reprinted in the Monstrous Manual (1993).Stewart, Doug, ed. Monstrous Manual (TSR, 1993) The minotaur is detailed as a playable character race in The Complete Book of Humanoids (1993).Slavicsek, Bill. The Complete Book of Humanoids (TSR, 1993) The minotaur is later presented as a playable character race again in Player's Option: Skills & Powers (1995).Niles, Douglas and Dale Donovan. Player's Option: Skills & Powers (TSR, 1995) The minotaur continued to play an important role in the Dragonlance setting in second edition. The Taladan minotaur appeared in the Time of the Dragon boxed set (1989). The minotaur of Krynn and the Thoradonian minotaur appeared in the Monstrous Compendium Dragonlance Appendix (1990). ''Dungeons & Dragons'' 3.0 edition (2000–2002) The minotaur appears in the Monster Manual for this edition (2000).Cook, Monte, Jonathan Tweet, and Skip Williams. Monster Manual (Wizards of the Coast, 2000) Savage Species (2003) presented the minotaur as both a race and a playable class. The feral minotaur also appeared in this book.Eckelberry, David, Rich Redman, and Jennifer Clarke Wilkes. Savage Species (Wizards of the Coast, 2003) ''Dungeons & Dragons'' 3.5 edition (2003–2007) The minotaur appears in the revised Monster Manual for this edition (2003). The faerzress-infused minotaur appeared in Underdark (2003), for the Forgotten Realms campaign setting.Cordell, Bruce R, Gwendolyn FM Kestrel, and Jeff Quick. Underdark (Wizards of the Coast, 2003) The greathorn minotaur appeared in Monster Manual IV (2006).Kestrel, Gwendolyn F.M. Monster Manual IV (Wizards of the Coast, 2006) ''Dungeons & Dragons'' 4th edition (2008–2014) The minotaur appears in the Monster Manual for this edition (2008).Mearls, Mike, Stephen Schubert, and James Wyatt. Monster Manual (Wizards of the Coast, 2008) Rules for playing minotaurs first appeared in Dragon #369, and they became a fully supported race in the Player's Handbook 3 (2010). ''Dungeons & Dragons'' 5th edition (2014–present) The minotaur appeared as a monster in the Monster Manual for this edition (2014).Monster Manual (Wizards of the Coast, 2014) A version of the minotaur as a playable race initially appeared as playtest content in "Unearthed Arcana: Waterborne Adventures" (2015), modeled after the minotaurs of Krynn. However, the race did not appear again until 2018, when another playtest version was included in "Unearthed Arcana: Centaurs and Minotaurs" (2018); this version was revised and eventually published later that year in the Guildmasters' Guide to Ravnica (2018).Guildmasters' Guide to Ravnica (Wizards of the Coast, 2018) In Dragonlance In the Dragonlance campaign setting, the minotaurs, which are also known as "Kothians", are a reasonably civilized and cultured race. They are most commonly found on the islands of Mithas and Kothas (named for the sons of the first Kothian emperor) and are renowned for their tactical brilliance, military strength and superb seamanship. The majority of the Kothian race worships the evil deity Sargas, who is known to other races as "Sargonnas". Their pride prohibits them from acknowledging the two incarnations as one and the same. In Kothian society, Sargas is portrayed as a giant bull-headed god who is held in higher esteem than the petty god of vengeance and strife that the humans and other lesser races may fear or worship. Standing in opposition to Sargas is Kiri-Jolith, god of righteous warfare who is known as "Emperor" to the minotaur race. To minotaur living in the mainstream of their own society, followers of Kiri-Jolith are nothing more than heretics and heathens, who are to be loathed, hated and killed on sight in the name of their primary deity, Sargas. Other publishers The minotaur is fully detailed in Paizo Publishing's book Classic Monsters Revisited (2008), on pages 40–45.Baur, Wolfgang, Jason Bulmahn, Joshua J. Frost, James Jacobs, Nicolas Logue, Mike McArtor, James L. Sutter, Greg A. Vaughan, Jeremy Walker. Classic Monsters Revisited (Paizo, 2008) References External links *Minotaur at Dragonlance Nexus Category:Dungeons & Dragons creatures from folklore and mythology Category:Dungeons & Dragons monstrous humanoids Category:Dungeons & Dragons standard creatures